Bear Claws and Ball Gowns
by catchingonfire
Summary: After years of her sister ignoring her existence, Anna is finally brought back into her world when Elsa needs her help planning a ball to save the family company. Now Anna has to deal with getting the cold-shoulder from the man of her dreams, the craziest friend she's ever had (although she hasn't had many), and an ice salesman who won't stay out of her thoughts. AU.


_Hello! This is my first fic in a very long time, so go easy on me okay? c: Frozen is such a magical story, I wanted to do my best to honor it. If you see any discrepancies, let me know. Most of all, please enjoy! _

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"_God _Elsa, did you even salt the driveway?_" _Anna muttered under her breath, with the knowledge that her sister definitely had not. Nor had she even seen her in what felt like weeks.

Sure, the occasional sound of the refrigerator shutting and flashes of white hair as she silently made her way around the house assured Anna that her sister was alive and functioning. But she was just too busy for her. She no longer said hello or goodbye.

So when Anna had shouted through Elsa's closed bedroom door last night, that it was _snowing very hard, so could you please salt the driveway while I finish my paper? _She hadn't really expected any turnout. But she still had hope, after all these years.

Elsa could've at the very least made Hans, her assistant, do it. He'd do anything if it meant pleasing Elsa.

Surely that was what assistants were for, right? Anna didn't know, she'd never had one. Elsa always seemed to have people fluttering around her, although she kept them at distance. Anna knew that very well.

Ever since their parents had died-three, four years ago now -Elsa had become the figurative queen of their new family of two. And their parents had left behind quite a mess.

The company her father and mother had started, which manufactured clothing (cloaks, fancy dresses, anything you _wouldn't _find at your local department store) had been left fifty/fifty to an eighteen year old and a sixteen year old.

Even though the staff was constantly fluttering around Elsa, helping her learn the ropes that was management in a cutthroat industry, she'd had to leave behind an entire future in order to do what she thought would make her parents proud. She'd forgone college and instead jumped right into work at an age in which most other kids had dealt only in babysitting. Elsa was launching a line in Norway while her peers got drunk at frat parties.

Well, not really her peers, since Anna and Elsa had been homeschooled, but you get the picture.

Anna mulled over the idea of vindictively salting her sister's bedroom floor as she slipped butt-first onto the driveway.

"Why?!"She whined, flopping the rest of her body down onto the pavement. She threw the back of her hand against her forehand dramatically, mentally and physically giving up the idea of having a good day.

She had to get her essay into her Creative Writing teacher by ten A.M., but then her day was free.

If she could just get a move on it.

But the snow was just so fine, even if it did completely soak through her dress. Anna had the sudden urge to build a snowman, and she flung the top half of her body up in a fast movement that led to her smashing head first into the person that had just been leaning down to help her up.

"I'm so sorry, oh my god Hans, are you okay?" She groaned, but ignored all her pain while she focused on the person in front of her. Well, not just any person, _Hans, _who she was totally and regrettably in love with.

"Yeah, uh, I'm fine," Hans said, rubbing his head in a not-really-fine manner. "Don't you have class?"

"No, but I have to stop by the English department. Then I'm free for the entire day! Do you want to get coffee later?" Anna bit her lip, and felt her face flush red.

She and Hans had hung out a few times last year, when he'd first started working for Elsa. But he'd grown more and more busy, and forgotten more and more about her. Meanwhile, she'd had plenty of time to think about him, and fantasize about him.

"I can't today, I have to get Elsa's approval on a few things and then run them by the office. She's here, right?" Hans barely even looked at her, instead his eyes jolted across the many windows of their house as if Elsa might be staring down with an icy gaze. Which, was quite possible, but that was the least of Anna's worries at the moment. She was more preoccupied with the fact that Hans hadn't suggested another date.

That was the usual etiquette, was it not? When a person says they cannot attend one thing, they usually suggest another? _No I can't go Tuesday, but I can go Friday. _Right?

Anna shook these thoughts away, assuring herself that Hans was too busy to be polite. Although, he was very polite. And cute, in his gray pea coat that made him look like royalty. His light auburn hair (that matched Anna's shade, she'd noted on many occasions) was artfully arranged and she couldn't help but gaze at his freckles just a little bit longer than necessary.

"Anna?"

"Hmm, what?"

"Elsa, is she here?"

"Oh! Oh, yes. Although you should know that by now, she hardly ever leaves," Anna rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," he laughed a little, "well sorry about the head bump. See you around."

Without even a miniscule look back, he made his way up the rest of the driveway. Anna watched him go, his silhouette small against the backdrop of the gigantic house.

The house, with its blue roof and expansive garden, was wrapped up in a snowy blanket. The patch of weeping willows that surrounded it drooped even more with the weight of the world, and Anna couldn't help but stare openly at the majesty that the snowstorm had left. She wanted to take it all in now, before the grossness of the world infected the white sheen.

She decided to walk to school. She was already covered in snow and frozen to the bone, so why not?

She only lived about fifteen minutes away, although it felt like entering an entirely different world. The beautiful seclusion of her house gave way to a busy college town, and the snow slowly turned browner and browner as she moved in closer to the center.

The busyness didn't even begin to compare to the city that was thirty minutes away by car, but Arendelle was the perfect place for Anna's family. Elsa especially, considering she loved it so much she barely left her room.

Well, maybe that wasn't love. But Elsa had never complained, and after their parents' deaths, she had always made sure that the house was kept in tip-top shape. They even had a staff of their own to tend to the many (unused) vast halls.

When Anna had gotten into Vivo University, right here in Arendelle, she'd decided to live at home instead of spending unnecessary costs on a dorm room. Not that cost was an issue, with the amount of money that Elsa raked in by designing clothes.

And maybe she was a little worried about her sister. Or rather, the lack of her. Anna sometimes felt a twinge of guilt whenever she was thoroughly enjoying a class. Her sister would never get to experience college life.

Then again, Anna wasn't sure if she was ever experiencing it for herself. She hadn't made many friends, except for a chummy guy named Olaf in her Ancient Literature course.

Ah, another wonderful day of worries. She was only eighteen, she could do whatever she wanted. And next year she could dorm, it was a silly thing to stress over. Anna forced herself to smile at the next person to walk by, a super tall blonde guy who seemed taken aback by her friendliness. His dog yapped happily at her, while its owner raised a bemused eyebrow. The interaction was all over in a second, and Anna sped up a little to get away from any remaining awkwardness.

There were plenty of good things to think about today, like how her story had turned out. It had been a semester long project to create a totally original story. Original not only plot wise, but the professor had also forbade _anything_ from the real world, like brand names or landmarks. No mention of Hershey's Chocolate or New York City anywhere in Anna's story. It had been more difficult than she'd expected, but for once, she was proud of herself.

It was a story of two sisters, ripped apart by circumstances and the deaths of their parents.

Okay. Anna realized as she was writing it how autobiographical it sounded. So to mix things up, both sisters have the ability to time travel. That definitely cleared away any similarities.

She walked all the way to campus, humming random tunes to herself as she trampled through the snow. No one in this town seemed to be good about clearing snow and salting the roads, and they hadn't even bothered with the sidewalks. The only reason her boots weren't ruined already was because someone had left tracks with their giant wheels. It looked as if they'd been trudging a giant wheelbarrow through the snow.

Suddenly she was thankful that at _least _her driveway had been plowed.

Anna hummed all her way to the English department, where she handed her paper directly to the professor. She was kindly informed that emailing it was just as acceptable, but since it wasn't an order or request, Anna didn't really consider it. Maybe she was old-fashioned, or maybe she just needed more excuses to come to campus, but she preferred the physical action of passing a paper in. The feeling that she got when she looked a teacher in the eye, proud of her work-not even scared of their reaction because she knows she enjoyed doing it either way-that was magic.

She decided to treat herself to some coffee, since she had exactly five dollars, and that was just enough to get a nice drink in one of these swanky, hipster cafés. As she exited the English building, a burst of cold air flew through the courtyard, sweeping her ear muffs right off her ears.

She knew those things were stupid; they barely even kept her ears warm.

Anna considered just leaving them there, but a familiar looking person had already picked them up and was heading towards her.

"Morning Anna!" Olaf shouted, a giant smile taking over his face, "These yours? Well, of course they are, I saw them fly off your head-unless you _stole them. _Ha! I won't tell!"

Anna took them back, and laughed at Olaf's incessant stream of thought. She didn't really befriend the guy, he'd befriended her, but she didn't mind.

Olaf was as pale as snow, and built almost like a snowman. His hair was an extremely light shade of yellow, and almost translucent in the cold winter sun. He was wearing fleece snow pants as if they were jeans, and a puffy jacket that you might see on Antarctic explorers. Anna didn't really think all the layers were necessary, but she couldn't judge. She'd grown up in a quasi-mansion, but her parents didn't spend much on heating. She was used to the cold.

"Morning Olaf, I was heading for Living Valley café, you interested?" She laughed as he picked up a handful of snow. You wouldn't think much of Olaf, but he was one savvy cook. He was especially good at making decorations for pastries. He manned the kitchen like a pro, despite him being the same age (younger, actually) than Anna. They shared their Creative Writing class, which Olaf wasn't actually too skilled at.

"Of course! Purely platonic, just so you know. I've got someone waiting for me back home," Anna rolled her eyes. She'd already had this (one-sided) conversation with Olaf several times.

"Where is home again?"

"Arendelle, I'm _pretty _sure we've already discussed this, Anna."

"So, this someone is waiting for you, where exactly?"

"Uh," this gave Olaf cause to stop and think for a moment, "oh wait, I'll just ask her!" He pulled out his phone and furiously moved his stick-like fingers around.

Anna just watched him, since she had nothing else to do for the moment. Plus, she wanted to wait until he'd finished his task to cross the road. He'd probably get run over, or just accidentally walk into oncoming traffic. Olaf could barely walk straight _with _total focus, which Anna had learned in their few months of friendship.

"Ready?" She asked after what felt like ten minutes, when he finally paused in his texting.

"Yup!" He trotted onto the zebra crossing, and Anna was left to catch up behind him. He was shorter, but somehow faster.

"So?"

"So, what? Anna, I'm not a mind reader."

"What did she say?"

"Oh, I don't know. She didn't reply."

Anna opened her mouth to ask who he was texting, but closed it a moment later. They were nearing the café, and she thought that she'd seen someone she recognized. Well, not someone. Hans. The neat hair, the black leather shoes and the pea coat were kind of a giveaway.

Anna hurried ahead, finally overtaking Olaf in speed, in order to make it to the door in time to (hopefully) get behind Hans in line. He was probably getting Elsa something she didn't ask for. Hans was good at a lot of things, especially when it came to fawning over Anna's sister.

Or maybe Elsa had asked for a bear claw and a chai tea. Anna didn't really know her sister's preferences anymore. But she doubted the sister who had _hand washed _ her own cloak at eleven years old cared much for eating out when she could be eating in.

Still, any chance to see Hans was a chance to see Hans.

Anna nearly ran inside, getting in line before Olaf did (which he_ tsk_ed at). But it wasn't Hans, just another well dressed guy with auburn hair, who wasn't even buying a bear claw.

Anna just really wanted a bear claw. To make her feel better about all this unrequited love business.

She tapped her foot impatiently as the line crawled forward. There were still five people in front of her when she suddenly realized she had Olaf to chat with.

Anna wasn't very tactful when it came to friendships, but in her defense she'd only been brought up with one friend.

Olaf had found someone else to talk to, of course he had. It was the blonde stranger she'd smiled at before, much to her embarrassment. He seemed to be smirking at whatever Olaf was saying, but not in a patronizing way, just a sarcastic way. Anna wasn't sure which way was preferable.

As soon as she realized that this was the guy who had looked at her like she was insane, she flung her head back forward, hoping to isolate herself from whatever they were talking about. She'd had enough embarrassing moments for one day, and being friendly to a stranger only went so far as to when they were no longer strangers.

"Ow! Anna! You hit me with one of your braids!" Uh oh, guess she whipped her head too fast. This happened more than she wished it did.

"Oh, sorry Olaf," she smiled in a self-deprecating sort of manner, before peaking up at the stranger again.

He didn't seem to recognize her, _thank god. _But then again, he didn't seem to be reacting to anything at all. He had glanced at her, but then looked towards the counter where a coffee menu sat propped up. Anna took this moment to gaze at him, her eyes sliding over his blonde hair and general tallness.

He wasn't blonde like Olaf, he had hair the color of wheat fields. Well, the pictures of wheat fields that Anna had googled that one time she was trying to figure out what the difference between barley and wheat was (as far as she could tell, not much). The stranger was built, like professional-piano-mover built, and he was tall. But she'd already noticed that several times over. His nose was a little too big for his face, but in an endearing way that she could never translate into words. He looked kind of _goofy_, but in the best way possible.

Anna glanced at Olaf, who was smirking at her in a dangerous way that made her eyes dart away from both of them very quickly. Olaf was used to saying whatever was on his mind, and she did _not _want him to say whatever was on it right now.

"Kristoff, this is Anna, you're both students at the same university-so there's a possible conversation topic," Olaf talked slower than usual, forcing both of his companions to rejoin the conversation.

"Kristoff, is that short for Kristopher or something?" Anna asked, out of pure curiosity.

"No. It's not short for anything," Kristoff replied briskly, not even bothering to make eye contact with her. Anna glanced over at Olaf, who shrugged in a what-can-you-do manner.

Anna slowly turned back to face the front of the line, which had dwindled down to one person. She looked at all the tired college students behind her, and turned back to her companion, and the other sort-of-companion.

"Should we order together, make it easier on the people behind us?" Olaf nodded, but Kristoff shook his head.

"I'm not ordering anything, I just have to speak to the manager."

"Oh?"

"He won't return my calls."

"Oh," Anna nodded, as if she totally knew what he was talking about.

"Kristoff is in the ice business! He owns his own business!" Olaf said this as if Anna was being introduced to Walt Disney himself. Well, at least Anna knew now why he was so built.

"Well, it's not my business, but it's a family one. I'm supposed to be sending a shipment here tomorrow, but the manager hasn't confirmed any of the details," Kristoff grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He's probably just busy, I mean, look at all these people!" Anna said, helpfully. Kristoff rolled his eyes, gesturing to a light bulb that was dimly flickering.

"Too busy to keep up his place apparently, I don't get the appeal."

_Well, _Anna thought, _this is a joyful conversation. _

She glanced back once at Kristoff, who had shoved a furry cap on his head. It was obviously too small, and his hair was sticking out of it at weird angles. Even though his face was as aggravated as a cat taking a bath, Anna couldn't help but crack a smile at the way he looked completely menacing and not even a bit menacing at once.

She got up to the counter, placed her order and sat down with Olaf in one of the few free tables. She chatted mildly, but let Olaf do most of it. She watched Kristoff be led into the back, probably to go do important business-y stuff with the manager out of the eyes and ears of the common customers.

Anna sighed and leaned back in her chair. She forgot about all her worries. She ignored all the trouble she was having with Elsa, and the lack of trouble, or anything with Hans. Anna focused on what was in front of her: a friend, a bear claw, and some really expensive coffee. And a dog covered in snow and running straight at her.


End file.
